Anywhere
by Kouyama Mitsuki
Summary: A seventeen-year-old Sakura is rejected by Sasuke for the last and final time. Examining the reasons as to why she wanted to be with Sasuke in the first place, she finally begins to open her eyes. (KakaSaku)
1. Beginnings

**Disclaimer**: If you think I own Naruto, you are sorely mistaken and a bit of a fool.

Since this story is in English, I left off honourifics and tried using as little Japanese as possible. I deemed it more appropriate than not, hence the omission of words such as 'kunoichi,' 'sensei,' etc. I hope this doesn't detract from the story! :)

- Mitsuki

* * *

_The riot in my heart decides to keep me open & alive  
I have to take myself away from you  
'Cause I can't compete, I can't deny  
__There is nothing that I didn't try  
How did I go so wrong in loving you...?_

The only visible thing to Haruno Sakura was the rain. The rain, falling steadily and fiercely onto her slouched head and shoulders. The rain, dripping with what seemed to be determination through her carnation pink hair. The rain, sliding down her face, pale like porcelain on this moonless night. At that very moment in her life, above all else, she was the most thankful for the endless rain that poured down into the streets of Konoha, tainting the chilly spring landscape. She preferred to stand stone-still in the downpour for one reason only: In the rain, no one could see how strongly she was crying.

One name rang true on her lips; the _only_ name she could think of at that point in time. If she were to open her mouth to speak to anyone, be it her parents, friends, or even her teacher, the only sound she would have uttered would have been one self-explanatory name. _Sasuke_.

Recalling the evening's events, she had a mental flashback to four hours and five minutes prior. Standing in the very same place, she had repeated his name over and over as he'd walked away, ascending its volume from a whisper to a scream. Falling to her knees, she'd scraped herself up on the unforgiving gravel, watching him turn around just long enough to tell her to stand up, that she had more self-worth than that. Averting her eyes to the afflicted area, she saw three shiny trails of blood leading down her shin from her kneecaps. Emitting a shaky, pained sigh, she closed her emerald eyes and leaned down to wipe the gravel out of her wounds. _Five years and all I got were cut knees and a broken heart, _she thought to herself. The 17-year-old female ninja had taken more than a fair share of rejection from Uchiha Sasuke since they became teammates when they were both preteens. This time, however, she knew it was the _last _time. She had to stop hoping he'd eventually find her attractive; stop hoping he'd fall in love with her and she would be the prized bride of the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan. Pausing in her thoughts for the moment, she contemplated what was truly running through her mind. _Had_ she only loved him because she would be wedding an Uchiha? Had she desired a well-documented, historical ceremony that the entire village and thensome attended? Had she simply wanted to beat Ino, her childhood best friend and rival for Sasuke's love? Was she honestly in love with this stoic boy, this power-hungry brooder? Immediately and loyally, she dismissed the answer as yes.

For half a decade, she had lived in a fantasy world. He had never shown anything more than friendly affection towards her, sometimes not even that. Taking every inquiry as progress, every glance as a sign, Sakura had honestly believed that he secretly harbored feelings for her. As an emotional individual, she heard and saw only what she wanted to and none of what she didn't, which is why she kept taking his rejections as temporary things that he'd take back eventually. Always hoping he'd wake up and realize that she loved him more than anyone on this little planet, she stayed persistent.

Lifting her head to focus on the dimmed lights in front of her, perception mangled by tears, she took one aching step forward onto the pronounced, significantly larger footprints that Sasuke had left in his wake. The muddy terrain could tell no lies, and Sakura was unable to shrug off what had happened as just a bad nightmare. No, it had _actually_ taken place. Her heart was on the floor and he stepped right on it with no remorse or guilt whatsoever. After all, what _was_ she to him, anyway? Knowing she would make no progress out in the rain, she became motivated to walk the short way back to her house. As her slow steps proceeded onward, she began voicing her thoughts out loud, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.

"I've been here all along... Five long years of waiting for you to notice me. Couldn't you have realized that I was standing right in front of you...?"

Everything seemed to blur, twisting and fading into jumbled static. The trees spun and whirled; the clouds molded together into one conglomeration – black. All black. Everything faded to black. She wasn't conscious to feel it when her head hit the gravel path with a thump.

--

Darkness faded into light as her eyes opened to fluorescent. Above her were two bright objects which she discerned as lights themselves, forcing her to squint until her pupils adjusted to the change in scenery. Not only did she not recall where she was, she honestly did not understand what had happened before she arrived there. It was almost like time had stopped completely. First she was, then she wasn't. _Now you're here, there you aren't_, she thought to herself. _Where is this...?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a dim in the fluorescence caused by a head and shoulders hovering over her from the bedside. The figure had a generous amount of silver hair that was stuck nearly straight up past his Konoha forehead protector, which was positioned diagonally over one of his eyes. The other was closed in what seemed to be a familiar smile, though she could never really tell, as a thin black mask concealed the rest of his face from under his eye down to his neck. _That's..._

"Yo! It appears as though you're finally awake. Don't worry, you're in the hospital."

..._that's my ex-teacher, Kakashi_. Blinking slowly, she opened her mouth to reply. Her throat was dry and her words scratchy, but she would rather have figured out what happened rather than if she could have a drink of water or not. "Kaka... shi? Where... What happened? Why am I here?"

Blinking for a moment, Kakashi thought about what she'd said in regards to a decision he had to make. "Well, I was going to take you to my house, but I figured you'd consider that unnecessarily awkward. I thought the hospital was best."

"But what happened? Why aren't I at home?"

"You passed out about a block from your house last night. I told your parents about what happened and they expressed concern, but I told them not to come and that you'd be fine. They were so adamant in thanking me, too. It's the least I can do for the brightest student I ever had. Besides, I missed you." He resumed that playful smile of his.

_That's right_, Sakura thought. It had been a month since she'd seen Hatake Kakashi. They had trained daily up until then, even when she, Naruto, and Sasuke had 'graduated' from his watchful eye. A month ago, however, Kakashi had to leave for an A-rank mission that had tied him up for a while. He was, apparently, back home. "How did you find me? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very glad you did, but..."

Interrupting her, he raised one finger in front of his face. "I saw you."

Raising an eyebrow, she looked a tad confused. "Saw me? Saw me what?"

"I saw you collapse. I was..." His next movements appeared to be out of embarrassment, as his hand scratched the back of his head and his eyes averted. "I was watching you stand in the pouring rain and didn't want to appear and scare you, so I decided to watch what you were doing. Before I knew it, you had collapsed."

"A-ah... I see." Inwardly, she praised his decision. He was one of the last people she wanted to see her cry over Sasuke again. He had already witnessed so many of her 'episodes' that one more would just make her look worse.

Stiffening up and changing his expression, Kakashi stood up straight and averted to a more serious tone of voice. "Right. Anyway, you've been out overnight. It's about noon now. As far as I know, you suffered no damage, though I wouldn't be surprised if you acquire a cold. How long were you standing in the rain for?"

Sakura closed her eyes for a brief moment. How long _was_ it? Straining her mind to remember exactly what took place, she began to go over the details of the night in her mind once more. It had started to rain right at the end of her conversation with Sasuke, right when she began to confess that she has always loved him, all this time, all five years. That was...

"Five hours."

Looking surprised, Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "Five hours, hm? No wonder you passed out. I won't ask what you were doing, I'll leave it up to you to tell me or not. I treated your knees, however. It looks like you scraped them when you fell down, even though I'm almost positive you fell onto your side..."

Sakura found it in her to laugh a little, sitting up. "I appreciate that. Thank you so much for bringing me here, Kakashi. I'd hate to think of what would have happened if I had been left out there the entire time." As she was pausing to consider what to say next, she felt an immense feeling of fatigue pass through her body. Letting her shoulders and head fall back onto her cot, she let out a small groan and closed her eyes tightly. Kakashi looked moderately alarmed, leaning over her a few inches.

"Sakura? What's wrong?" He asked, turning to see if there were any nurses behind him.

"N-nothing, I... I just feel really weak, that's all. Really tired." Staring up at him with half-lidded eyes, Sakura felt herself slipping away into the oblivion she entered in the night past. Not wanting to keep Kakashi waiting by her bedside for hours again, she reassured him that she would be fine and that he could leave, thanking him once more.

"You know I can't do that. I'm not going to go home until you're back at your own. What would your family think of me then, hm?" He said with a concerned smile. "I wish there was more I could do for you, though." It was no secret that he, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had gotten even closer recently. Or so it seemed, anyway. The truth was that Sasuke was just as closed off as ever. Naruto would tell you what you wanted to hear for the price of ramen, as usual. That boy will _always_ come off as immature for his age, right up until the day he dies. Simply put, Sakura's relationship with Kakashi was the only one that he could honestly say was growing. When he met her, she was a young, naïve girl; much more obsessed with Sasuke than with training. As she experienced more and grew up ever so quickly, she had blossomed into a brilliant, mature, and beautiful young woman. The two of them would talk for hours about life, the future, and their pasts – mostly his. They grew out of the student-teacher relationship and into two good friends.

Allowing a heaving sigh to pass through her body, Sakura smiled serenely up at him, half-comatose. "You _can_ do something for me, actually. Tell me a story. Tell me about your mission."

Taking a seat by her bedside, Kakashi sat cross-legged with his elbows on his knees. Resting his head on his folded hands, he began to go into detail about where he went, what he did, and how he narrowly escaped death at the hands of three missing-nin. Five minutes later, he looked up at her, awaiting a response of some sort. Noticing her closed eyes and heaving chest, he understood that she had fallen asleep. Smiling softly, he grasped onto the thin white bedsheet that was resting under her hands and pulled it over her shoulders. "Sleep well, Sakura..." He whispered quietly, careful not to wake her from the slumber that she had attained.

Watching her for a few minutes, he admired the silent beauty she displayed in her sleep. Up until that very moment, he had never considered a girl with black eyeliner trailing down her face and matted, rain-dried hair to be something of an ethereal magnificence. Haruno Sakura was the exception, apparently.

That day was a turning point for Hatake Kakashi. He began to realize the true extent of how their relationship had changed. He was not looking after her because she was simply an ex-student that he cared about, nor was he taking good care of a friend. There was something different about what this girl meant to him. Something he couldn't quite place, but he knew he should simply ignore. One thing was clear, however: Uchiha Sasuke truly did not know just what he was missing. But then again, neither did Kakashi himself. _Nor will I ever_, he thought to himself, shaking his head. There was something too forbidden about the two of them, which is exactly why he was forcing himself to shelve all of his emotions and pretend they did not exist.

Lifting himself up from his sitting position, he frowned slightly to himself before leaning over Sakura and whispering one last thing.

"I've been here all along... Five long years of waiting for you to notice me. Couldn't you have realized that I was standing right in front of you...?"

Walking slowly to a chair on the opposite side of the hospital room, he took a seat and awaited the awakening of sleeping beauty.

_& I don't care if you don't love me  
& I don't care if you won't change  
I could live inside the shadow that I cast on you  
& the myth that you would stay  
& I'll be home before the morning comes,  
You won't have to be alone  
  
I will write this down for you  
So you can read it  
I will hold my breath for you  
'Till I can't feel it  
You don't have to see me this way,  
'Cause this way I'm okay.

* * *

_

The verse at the beginning of this chapter is from Sarah McLachlan's "Perfect Girl," the one at the end is from Something Corporate's "Miss America."

I think this is pretty mediocre, but if you like it, I'm happy. If you don't, hey, I tried. :)

Expect more chapters. As of the end of this chapter, the rating's PG -- but that should be changing.


	2. Confusion

_When I was alone  
You came around  
When I was down  
You pulled me through  
& there's nothing that  
I wouldn't do for you  
  
'Cause I wanted to fly,  
so you gave me your wings  
& time held its breath so I could see, yeah  
__& you set me free._

It had been three days since Haruno Sakura's 'incident,' the one that left her bed-ridden in a Konoha hospital with Hatake Kakashi at her bedside. In the two days immediately following recovery, she was assigned a B-rank mission that forced her to sleep outside in a makeshift tent for the night. Even though she was paired up with Hinata on the endeavor, she couldn't help feeling entirely alone. While she and the Hyuuga heir had become lasting friends, there was still one important piece missing to the puzzle. Dismissing it as a longing for Team 7 coupled with heartbreak over Sasuke throughout the day, she found herself startled when awakening the next morning from a dream about her former teacher.

In it, they were back at the hospital – she was relatively comatose; he was watching over her bedside with an attentive eye. The dream seemed like more of a flashback to Sakura until it further progressed. Something out of the ordinary was taking place; something she hadn't seen actually _happen_. He was leaning down over her sleeping form, strands of fine silver hair falling in front of his ever-elusive face. His gaze narrowed and turned serious, prompting him to reach up with one hand to adjust his forehead protector so that it was horizontally across his forehead, rather than over his sharingan. Even in her dream, his scar was just as she'd remembered it – a clean line from his forehead to below his eye; a beautiful declaration of long, hard battles fought and hardships endured. The blood red of his sharingan gleamed at her, teardrops of black over unforgiving crimson. There was always something beautiful to her about the structure of those eyes, those _weapons_.

Suddenly, Kakashi did something that Sakura would never have expected him to do, not in a million lifetimes. After all, it would be a first in five years of knowing him. Flicking his thumb underneath the smooth black fabric of his mask, he started to slowly pull it down. Leaning over more and more as he was doing so, he eventually reached her pale cheek and as he finished pulling down his mask, his lips planted a soft kiss on her porcelain face.

Before he could lean back so that she could see him in her dream, see what was actually under the mask that hid his being for years and years, the same cold, unforgiving feeling of being awakened to a bright light above her rushed in once again. This time, however, the source of annoyance came from the sun.

"Good morning, Sakura! I'm sorry, did I wake you up when I took down the tent's walls? I didn't mean to..." Hinata blushed apologetically, rolling half of the tent up in her small hands. Sakura rubbed her morning-unadjusted green eyes from inside of her polyester sleeping bag, yawning deliberately.

"N-nah, don't worry about it. Good morning, Hinata," Sakura yawned once again, sitting up and running a lazy hand through her disheveled pink hair. "It was about time I woke up anyway. We need to return to Konoha today, after all. Mission's over, thank God..."

Hinata smiled serenely, tying a black rope tightly around the pieces of the tent and placing them in her camouflage backpack. "You're going to have to move, I'm sorry. I have to finish putting this thing away, and that includes the bottom," She made her way over to Sakura, who clumsily stepped out of her dirt brown sleeping back, slinging it across her shoulder and plopping it down three feet from the tent. Falling backwards onto it, she lazily looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Hey, Hinata..." She started, focusing on a particularly strange cloud formation above. When Hinata looked up at her in reply, Sakura shook her head and dismissed the thought. After all, she didn't feel that she knew her well enough to tell her that she was having what seemed like romantic dreams about her former teacher. It wasn't that she didn't like her enough, which was obviously not the case – she just didn't want Hinata to have a poor impression of what type of person she was. After all, something as forbidden as trying to court a man over 10 years your elder wasn't exactly normal business in such a conservative village. _Besides_, Sakura thought, _what if people find out and assume I'm desperate because I got rejected by Sasuke? What if they think I'm a ridiculous jezebel who goes after everyone who so much as looks at me? _She wasn't going to allow that to happen. Stepping onto the grassy ground, she took the end of her sleeping bag in both hands and rolled it up into a ball. Finding its clasp on the side and closing it firmly, she tossed it to Hinata who placed it into the backpack.

Stretching one last time, Sakura looked over at her partner and smiled. "Ready to head out?" Hinata replied with a nod, walking to where Sakura stood. The both of them turned on their heels and headed back home.

* * *

The steady swish of the washing machines around him dulled Kakashi's thoughts as he stood, cross-armed, in the ever-busy Konoha Laundromat. In the cramped and busy room on the 80 degree day, he couldn't help but to begin sweating profusely in his long-sleeved shirt, Jounin vest, and dark blue pants – his usual uniform_. They certainly didn't keep the weather in mind when they designed this thing_, he thought to himself bitterly. Closing his eyes and resting his back against the wall, he let out a deep sigh and began to mull over exactly what had taken place before Sakura had left for her mission with Hinata.

He had blamed that evening on insanity. To Kakashi, having feelings for one of his former students proved that he was out of his mind. She was younger, after all. A _lot_ younger. The kind of young that would make the townspeople look upon the elite copy ninja with disgust, labeling him a pervert who read dirty books and dated teenagers for the sole reason of getting them into his bed. Shaking his head at the thought, Kakashi knew and realized that he would never think such things about Sakura. For the longest time, he thought he loved her like a little sister or as a prized student. He had always given her more leeway during training than Naruto or Sasuke, but he wrote it off as being due to the fact that she was female and had nothing overly defining about her – after all, she didn't have a nine-tailed fox living inside of her and she wasn't one of the last remaining survivors of a fabled clan. She was just Sakura, plain and simple. A too-tall girl with a bad temper and a loving heart. She could never control her emotions and cried often, but she gave everything her all and never gave up. Her intelligence was highly above average; Kakashi could almost bet that her IQ would rival Shikamaru's if she were to get it tested.

He began running through images of her in his mind; scenes that took place ever since she had first graduated from the academy and he had become her teacher. He couldn't forget the first thing she ever told him about herself. _"I like... well, the person I like is..."_ Sasuke. When they had to go through survival training in the woods, she passed out because she saw a fatally wounded illusion of someone. Sasuke. During the Chuunin exams, she kept demanding to see and check up on how one person was doing. Sasuke. After Kakashi and Sasuke both had been mentally wounded by Uchiha Itachi, Sakura visited one of them with flowers every single day. _Sasuke. _No matter _what_ Kakashi was feeling throughout the course of their training under him, he had no chance to ever realize it or even accept it. After all, she had one person on her mind – Uchiha Sasuke. That didn't change. _In fact_, Kakashi thought, _that **still** hasn't changed_. She stood in the rain for hours after he had rejected her, which is how Kakashi managed to find her that night. _He has complete control over her_, Kakashi thought. _He changes the equation she adds up to. If he said so much as 'hello Sakura' to her, she would have an amazing day. What he does... well, it changes her being. Her mood._ Kakashi could not imagine anyone having as much control over him as Sasuke did over Sakura. He had always lived in solitude, completely for himself and _only_ himself. Sure, he had had girlfriends – especially when he was young and in ANBU. Girls would flock to him, pretend to want to get to know him, and then change on him in the blink of an eye. Some only wanted him to bring them home. Some just wanted to know how it was like to be dating a ninja. Either way, one thing was constant in each of his relationships, and that was the fact that none of them were serious, nor did they last.

He didn't know what he was expecting with Sakura. Hell, he didn't even know if he even felt anything at all for her. In fact, he was sure that it was just a passing thing that would go away once he saw her in a normal light again, rather than laying there in a hospital bed. When she brought up Sasuke again was when he'd realize where he truly stood. He had all faith in the fact that she would, too. It would be uncharacteristic of her not to. But damn, he could still hear her voice in his head, ringing in his ears like a bad addiction.

_"Hello, Kakashi! It's been a while."_

_"I never want to stop training with you, even though I'll be doing independent missions now. Never."_

"_Tell me a story. Tell me about your mission."_

"_Kakashi!"_

"_Doing laundry, I see?"_

..._What_? Kakashi quickly opened his eyes, averting his gaze to his left. It wasn't just a daydream. There she was, standing right next to him. She and... Hyuuga Hinata, one of Kurenai's former students. _That's right_, he thought. _They just got back from a misson together_. Hinata looked as shy as ever, looking halfway at him and halfway at the floor. Avoiding looking startled as best he could, he smiled amiably and raised a hand to Sakura and her comrade. "Yo."

Sakura smirked, advancing towards her former teacher. "I've never seen you in here before. I guess elusive Jounin such as yourself wash their clothes too, eh?" She spoke with a playful tinge to her voice, which both confused and further startled Kakashi. When she spoke to him, it was usually either completely serious discussion or teacher-student/trainer-trainee speak. Even when they conversed for nights on end, it was never like this. She was always either pouring her heart out about a serious subject matter or he was entertaining _her_ with tales from his past adventures. _What has gotten into her_, Kakashi thought, _that would cause her to act like this? Maybe..._

"Umm, Sakura, shouldn't we be washing our clothes now rather than talking? It'll get done faster that way..." Hinata interjected hesitantly, emptying her bag of clothing onto the table and opening a washing machine.

Turning to Hinata, Sakura nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, you're right." Emptying her own bag onto the table directly in front of Kakashi, she quickly piled all of her clothes into a ball, picked it up, and tossed it into the washing machine. Closing the lid with a thud, Sakura fixed the wash settings, closed the lid, and hopped up onto the machine. Swinging her legs back and forth from on top of it, she cocked her head to the side and turned to Kakashi once again. "Let's train tonight."

Blinking slowly, Kakashi shifted his position against the wall and cleared his throat. "Okay, that's fine with me. The usual place, or...?"

Sakura nodded, inadvertently looping a few strands of pink hair behind her right ear. "Same place we always train. I'll be there in... three hours. Is that enough time for you?"

"Mhm," Kakashi replied, hearing his machine finish washing. Lazily sauntering over to the machine, he opened it up and placed his soggy clothes into a basket. Figuring he'd just hang them out to dry when he got back to his house, he placed the basket on his left shoulder and looked over his right. "See you there."

Thinking of one last thing to say before he left, Sakura reached out one hand so as to metaphorically catch him before leaving. "Kakashi, don't..." In a flash, he was gone. "...be late."

Hinata turned to Sakura and shrugged.

* * *

Sitting by the ever-familiar tall pine that stood as a landmark for all training sessions between she and Kakashi, Sakura sat up against its unforgiving bark, legs sprawled out in front of her. Sighing deeply, she measured by the sun that he was a good half an hour late. Not that she was expecting anything different out of someone as unpunctual as he, but she figured that he'd be more attentive now that they were on the same level rather than she being required to train below him. Just as she was about to stand up and stretch a bit, a familiar shape emerged from behind the tree.

"Yo," Kakashi offered with an apologetic smile, realizing that he was late.

Sakura glared at him, pouting over the fact that she had to wait so long. "Don't give me your 'Yo,' Kakashi. I deserve more than _that_."

Raising his hand to his chin, Kakashi looked up and mulled over her words. "Hmmmm," he started, "I---"

Cutting him off with laughter, Sakura lifted herself onto her feet and shook her head. "I'm kidding. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, right? You'll always be late."

Kakashi frowned, glancing over at her. "I resent that."

"Resent what?"

"Being called an old dog."

Exploding in laughter once again, Sakura ran out into the open grassy area northwest of the pine tree. Pulling a kunai from the holder on her shorts, she stood in a mock battle stance and yelled over to him. "Come on, old dog! Let's fight!"

She had expected him to appear about five feet from her and initiate hand-to-hand combat, but when he was suddenly behind her, holding her own kunai to her throat, she was a bit taken aback. His left hand gripped her shoulder tightly, constricting her. She was shocked at the suddenness of the motion. Looking up at him, he flashed her one of his usual smiles. "You know, Sakura, it's better to be an old dog..." Letting her go and giving her a small shove forward, he tossed the kunai behind him and appeared in front of her once again, catching her fall. Grabbing her right arm, he flipped her onto her stomach and lightly pressed his knee against her back, forcing her to the ground. Twisting her right arm behind her, he jokingly tapped lightly on it with four of his fingers. "...than a mere puppy."

Sakura gritted her teeth from her spot on the ground, twisting her body around and kicking upward and onto her feet, causing him to let go of her arm and step back. She leapt at him with a turning kick, watching him block it with his left palm. Once she landed, she ducked and advanced with an uppercut, seeing him block that as well. Crouching once more, she came at him with a sidesweep, only to have him bend down and catch her ankle, turning her onto her back on the ground once again.

She kicked at his arm, leaping to her feet once more. Running at him from a short range, she headed at him with an obvious backfist, anticipating his blocking of it. Just as it was about to make contact, she ducked in between his legs and came out behind him, whipping out a kunai in a split second and holding it to _his_ throat. _Gotcha_, she thought to herself, tightening an arm around his waist.

"Hmmm..." Kakashi spoke calmly, almost impressed. "You've gotten better. I thought I could read you, but you've proven to be quite unexpected." Sakura grinned, obviously proud of herself and her improving abilities. "But you know..." He started again, causing Sakura to look up in interest. "...you're holding me pretty tightly." That was just enough to catch her off-guard. Feeling a blush creep up her cheeks, she loosened her grip on him and moved the kunai back a few inches from his throat. Immediately disappearing, Kakashi took his leave.

"Dammit," Sakura cursed to herself, realizing the tactic he pulled. _After all_, she thought, _it's not like he has any way of knowing what I've been dreaming about lately. He can't read my mind. I'm such a fool_. Before she could finish her thought, however, she was on the ground once again, her face pressing against the dirt. His knees were on her back and he had both of her arms behind her, holding onto her hands.

"But sometimes, in hand-to-hand combat, you **have** to hold your opponent tightly... else they'll get away," Kakashi finished, smirking to himself. Sakura raised an eyebrow, looking up at him. Her mind was telling her exactly what she needed to do. Attempting to look as coy as possible, she batted her eyelashes innocently up at him.

"But I would **never** try to get away from you, Kakashi. Opponent or not, I couldn't ever do that."

_Thump._

Kakashi could feel his heartbeat quicken in his chest. _What did she just say?_

_This is it_, Sakura thought. _I can break free of this hold now_. Dropping her hands to the ground and rolling over onto her back, Sakura poised herself to leap to her feet once more. Suddenly, without warning, she felt her shoulders pinned to the ground and the sunlight blocked from her eyes. Staring into Kakashi's intense gaze, she became so shocked that she could not move.

"Kakashi...?" She whispered slowly, unable to pry her eyes away from his stare. Feeling her own heartbeat quicken, she felt the release on her right shoulder disappear as his hand moved up to his forehead protector, lifting it into alignment with his hairline. He opened his sharingan eye, intensifying his stare. Sakura couldn't breathe. _This is... exactly like my... _

She saw his hand move from his forehead protector to his thin black mask, pulling it slowly down from where it rested below his eyes. All she saw was black on red. The contrast of his sharingan. That beautiful scar. Before she could react to what he was doing or even look at his face, he swiftly leaned down until their noses were touching.

_...dream._

"Close your eyes."

He kissed her.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 1! It motivated me to write this one at lot faster than I was planning. :]

The lyrics at the beginning of this chapter were from Michelle Branch's "You Set Me Free." I thought they fit pretty well.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! There's a lot more to come.

- Mitsuki


	3. Realization

_Aim, snap, fall  
__The bitter wind weaved its way  
__through the trees so tall.  
__Colors invading sight,  
__I think I've found my new addiction tonight.  
__The phone call  
__left me paralyzed from the waist down;  
__the pureness of it all.  
__& then your siren began to sing.  
  
__I know this may be redundant,  
__but I think it bares repeating --  
__I think I've found my other half.  
__I swear I've found my better half.  
__I think I've found my other half.  
__I swear I've found my better half.  
__I think I've found my other half.  
__I swear I've found my better half.  
__Here we go._

There were many things in the world that Hatake Kakashi was unsure about. Why he had kissed Haruno Sakura on that gorgeous spring evening was not one of them. The trees had glowed ethereally in front of the sunset, red and orange, interrupting the landscape. Nothing was more beautiful to him than how the short pink locks of her well-kempt hair contrasted with the sun, descending in the picturesque sky like fire. Pink on red. Red on black. His gaze. Her emerald eyes returning it. It wasn't a decision that he had consciously made. In that very scene, in the roles they played, he _had_ to kiss her.

She kissed him back.

She kissed him back, slowly at first, blindly. Knowing she wanted it as much as he did. Realizing it then and there, _just_ realizing it. Something inside of her activated and her frantic eyes snapped shut, reaching her free arm blindly above her to take hold of his smooth silver hair, entangling her fingers in it as they continued to kiss. There was no rhythm; no sense to it all. There were simply two people who could not stand to let the moment pass by without relishing it, acting on it, soaking up its worth and all the desire involved. Simply put, they were lost for a moment in time. A few moments, as they did not simultaneously break the kiss until a good minute and a half into it. They seemed to have both realized what they were doing at the very same time.

He pulled back quickly, eyes wide, breath jagged. She twisted slightly to the right, closing her lips, green eyes burning. They could have melted the sun itself with the electricity and heat amidst their stare.

And she had never looked so beautiful.

As Kakashi sat at the bar of a backstreets Konoha café, sipping a tall glass of sake and paying vague attention to the unenthusiastic rock n' roll band playing monotonously to his left, he found himself wondering why her pleading eyes filled with tears as she scrambled to her feet and ran away into the night twenty four hours ago. He knew that it wasn't the _lack_ of chemistry between them that scared her off. It was just the opposite. She was terrified of what they had progressed into. After being hurt by Sasuke so many times, he knew that she could not trust the fact that he wasn't exactly like him. He recalled how she had told him of the time Sasuke kissed her on her back porch one summer night, unexpectedly and without logical reason. She had enough hope in her heart to fill the night sky a thousand times, but the very next day, he wrote it off as if nothing happened. She had since learned that a kiss did not mean a lifetime of promises, nor was it a contract to secure a relationship.

Several months ago, Sakura had told Kakashi that she was never going to give up on Sasuke, even if he was toying with her. Even if he only wanted her for something in the far future – a way to reproduce, to continue his beloved Uchiha clan. While she had existed for so long believing that he'd want to find love someday eventually as well; that he had the potential in his heart to need and be needed by a significant other, her hopes were shattered on the night Kakashi found her outside, crying for the sullen boy, screaming his name into the night. She asked questions into the rain and collapsed. He could always do that to her. She was so vulnerable when it came to him.

Secretly, Kakashi had begun to consider his former student somewhat of a hypocrite. He was dead-set on getting revenge on his brother, who had slaughtered his entire family and severely mindfucked him on many occasions. But wasn't what he was doing to Sakura also a ruthless game, a hurtful ambiguity, a mindfuck? He had been toying with her emotions for five years. If he wasn't, he would have simply told her straight that he did not want her the way she wanted him. He would put it into words for her. Instead of being silent and making her suffer. Instead of kissing her in the moonlight because he'd 'felt like it.'

Slamming down the drink that he held a millimeter from his lips, Kakashi rested his elbows on the grainy wooden bartop and ran a hand through his hair. The man behind the counter, short and stocky with a comb-over, laughed heartily at a sleazy joke that a trashy woman two seats away had told. _He must figure he's getting laid tonight_, Kakashi thought bitterly, disapproving of the general status of humanity. Glancing through the strands of silver that fell in front of his eyes in his slouched state, he let out a pained sigh and pushed his empty glass away. As the band finished playing their last song, he heard the stoned-looking lead vocalist audibly express a "thank you" to the listeners, some clapping wholeheartedly from their haphazardly arranged seats. Looking over his shoulder, he saw parties of men and women at tables behind him, their bouncing hair and enthusiastic demeanors. He wondered how they could be so naïve, living sheltered 9-to-5 lifestyles as vendors or cashiers, teachers or homemakers. There was never any crime or hardship on the streets of Konoha. ANBU took care of all of it. Ninja cleaned up around the edges.

There was not a year that had passed in Kakashi's life that he had not witnessed death, suffering, irreversible trauma. He had seen vengeful missing-nin traipse around the city, taking women and children hostage. He witnessed an outlaw slowly sever a baby's head as its mother was tied to a tree in front of them. The fact that her own child's blood stained her calm white dress made him run behind the back of a building and vomit. There was no need for things like that in the world. Naruto was always spouting his mouth off about '_his_ way of the ninja,' a young man finding his own definition to suit his needs. Well, ending some of the unnecessary madness was _Kakashi's_ way of the ninja. He did not want to witness pain and anguish, especially not to the innocent. It was his duty to kill and be killed, but he was upholding a legend behind him that told everyone he encountered that he wasn't simply an average jounin. Nearly everyone who was unfortunate enough to fight him knew of his name, his reputation, his skill. His sharingan. There wasn't a single person on this green earth that he would back down to. But there he was, drowning himself in alcohol over one of his former students running from a romantic advance he pulled on her. He felt so pathetic. Copy Ninja Kakashi, king of the lechers. Put _that_ in your Bingo Book.

Making sure to pull a few coins out of his pocket as a due tip for Mr. Comb-over, he stood up and made his way to the door. Taking hold of the rusted metal handle, the entryway opened with a creak that symbolized the need for oiled hinges. He could feel the burning eyes on him from behind his back. They all noticed his uniform, his mask, his crooked forehead protector. None of them could see what lied beneath it, but he could sense that they noticed his sharingan as well. Permanent. The mark of a man battlescarred. His life would never be normal. He would never exist peacefully, conduct a daily job, or even have a normal relationship. _Especially_ not the latter. It was suddenly hard to breathe in the room that smelled of cigarettes and bitter naïveté.

Once onto the streets, he thrust his hands into his pockets and prepared himself for a long walk home in the unforgiving night. Everything was black above him, not even the moon graced him with its presence. Lazily dragging his feet in an uncharacteristic fashion, Kakashi inhaled a long, hard breath, searched in the sky for a break in the clouds, and walked home like nothing mattered.

* * *

Her feet stayed glued to the floor as if they were nailed in place. No matter how badly she wanted to stand up, run out of the house with a doorslam, and trudge her way to Kakashi's – she just couldn't do it. More than anything in the world, she wanted to fall into his arms and ask him what he's been doing all this time, how he's truly feeling, and why he wasn't there before. She wanted to look him in the eye once again. She wanted to feel his wanting stare. When she was under his training, there was no way he would have ever looked at her that way, with such desire that it alone could have moved mountains without making a sound. No, he just saw her as a student back then. A silly little girl with nothing on her mind but a raven-haired boy who wouldn't pay attention to her. _He must've really made me inaccessible to others_, she thought to herself. _No one wanted me because I had my heart set on_...

Lifting her head up and gasping quietly, it all began to make sense to her, the reason why he waited until she had given up on him. Not only was she older, she also realized her inability to make Sasuke fall in love with her, which gave Kakashi the go-ahead to admit his feelings for her in some form of another. _But what if he doesn't even feel anything for me at all? What if, like Sasuke, he simply kissed me because it seemed like an interesting thing to try? What if he was too 'in the moment' to think clearly?_ Her thoughts were slowly yet surely eating her alive. There was nothing she could do but ask him. See what he meant by his actions. Figure something tangible out of this unbelievable occurrence.

But first she had to get out of her room.

Falling back onto her princess-pink comforter, her hair seemed to blend in directly as it fanned out around her head. Closing her eyes and sighing, she realized that no matter how long she waited, she was never going to find love until she put her trust in others. Simply because she had one bad experience did not mean it would happen again, after all. For all she knew, Kakashi's intentions could have been pure – he really could have wanted her. _But why would he?_ Realizing she was being too negative, she violently flipped over onto her side, opening her eyes and staring at nothing.

She figured that because he was much older than she, he would want someone more mature. She cried all the time, that was a given. Tears like rain that overflowed down her pale cheeks and made circular crimson marks on her red dress. No matter how badly she tried controlling her emotions, she always transgressed the ninja code and became a sobbing wreck in any situation at all. That was unattractive. She knew it all too well. She understood her inner hankering for pulling pranks on people. She valued her explosive temper. But those were all marks of a child, of someone who does not deserve to be _seen_ with an elite and accomplished ninja such as Kakashi. _What does he see in me?_ Kicking her legs up onto her bed, she straightened herself out and took a mental note of the fact that she'd never truly find out unless she asked. _So ask, dammit._

She shifted and hopped off of her bed, heading for the door.

* * *

Kakashi's room was cold and slightly breezy. The pitch black fan whirring overhead alluded to warm summer rather than tense spring. For some reason, he'd always preferred chilly to scorching. Maybe it was because of the fact that he'd always worn a mask around. With more layers over the skin, things become hotter in general.

He sat down in his stoic leather rocking chair, pewter in the dim light. It made a slight creaking noise as he barely kicked his legs to move it back and forth. There was something calming about having a tumultuous mind on a moderate night with the steady hum of a fan and the annoying creak of a chair keeping you company. In any other circumstances, he'd have hated it. There was always something breaking his precious silence.

Without warning, he stood up. Taking several lazy steps to his sound system, he put a finger to the power button and slid it over to 'play.' He didn't know what was loaded, nor did he care. Music to fill the emptiness was all that mattered in that moment. When the opening notes started leaking out of the speakers, he turned around and walked back to his chair, socked feet padding onto shining wooden floor. Just as he was ready to take a seat once more, three knocks rang into the night. Someone was at his door.

_Could it be...?_ His mind wanted it to be true, but his heart forced him to assume otherwise. After all, it could be any number of people. Gai, for example. Oh, how he would have hated hearing his cheerful, eccentric voice at that moment, screaming at the top of his retro lungs about how 'hip' he was for staying alone on a Saturday night. No, he had best assume it was someone else.

Unbolt. Grab. Turn. Swing open. A flash of pink and red. _Sakura_.

It was her.

"Kakashi."

The gentle crone of a female vocalist came through his speakers just then, as perfect as timings can be. His name on her lips and the hopeful beats behind him willed him to say nothing at all, to simply back up and let her in. Maybe she would take a seat on her own. Maybe she would do all the talking for him. She was the one who ran away, after all.

_Dear my love, haven't you wanted to be with me?  
& dear my love, haven't you longed to be free?  
I can't keep pretending that I don't even know you.  
& at sweet night, you are my own.  
Take my hand._

She moved out of the doorway and into the center of the room, firing her brilliant emerald gaze across the area. "Kakashi, I need to talk to you. Please."

He sat down in the chair, the leather emitting a slight creak. She took this as a signal to speak. "I'm sorry."

She acted like she wanted to say more but simply stopped at that. He looked up, appearing moderately curious. All he wanted was to stare at her and never looked away. He caught her eye. He looked away. _Creak_.  
_  
We're leaving here tonight.  
There's no need to tell anyone,  
they'd only hold us down.  
So by the morning's light  
we'll be halfway to anywhere,  
where love is more than just your name._

Taking a deep breath, she focused her gaze on his knees and started once more. "I'm sorry for acting so rashly last night. I didn't... _mean _to run away, that was very rude of me. I was just so surprised. And..." Looking over at him, she saw that he was staring down at something. Realizing that it was probably an embarrassing to subject to tackle, she decided to divert from it. "...and I just wanted to say that it wasn't you. I would've ran from anyone. My heart doesn't know what to think when people kiss me. My mind tells me two things, it's like an inner battle. I didn't... want to get hurt again. But I wasn't offended, if that's what you've been thinking. If you even care anymore." She inhaled once again and looked up. "Do you care?"

Eyes still averted, Kakashi sat in silence for a few moments before replying. "Of course I do. I don't kiss people I don't care about, especially if it could jeopardize a friendship I value." Sighing deeply, he rubbed his face with both of his hands out of stress, confusion, and God knows what else. He was never good with awkward situations.  
_  
I have dreamt of a place for you and I.  
No one knows who we are there.  
All I want is to give my life only to you.  
I've dreamt so long, I cannot dream anymore.  
Let's run away, I'll take you there._

Sakura began to speak once more, not entirely finished with what she had to say. While she was expecting more of a conversation, she felt that she was finally starting to break through the uneasiness, which was certainly progress. "So you care about me, then?"

He blinked. "Yes."

"Even when you're fully aware of my immaturity, my uneasiness, my position as your former student..." She lingered on this one for a second, realizing its realities and what people would think of the two of them. "...my ever-broken heart, my foolhardy actions, and even my indecision... you still care about me?"

He wanted to tell her that she was _very_ mature for her age and that he'd have mistook her for someone of his own if he hadn't trained her, which was well in the past. He wanted to let her know that broken hearts can be healed by love, that mistakes can be learned from, and that throughout everything, she was one of the most beautiful, pure-hearted souls he'd ever encountered. He wanted to spill his heart to her, letting her know that her name rang true for five straight years -- She was a true spring flower, blossoming into one of the most wonderful human beings on this little planet. But he couldn't say it, any of it. "I cannot change the way I feel. If you don't want to contribute your take on the matter, it would really be kind if you would not mention it anymore. We can go back to training as though nothing happened." _  
  
We're leaving here tonight.  
There's no need to tell anyone,  
they'd only hold us down.  
So by the morning's light  
we'll be halfway to anywhere,  
where no one needs a reason._

Sakura stood up, green eyes ablaze. She looked directly at Kakashi, hiding nothing. Her heart was on her white-bordered sleeve. "I dream about you. I have since that night a week ago. The night Sasuke told me that the only thing on his mind was to avenge his clan and that he would not have a use for me. Not now, not ever. That he'd select someone to help repopulate his clan when the time came and it would help if his choice wasn't _in love with him_. When I fell asleep in the hospital with you telling me about your mission, I fell into a deep sleep and _you were there_. Not Sasuke. You." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, leaning her body into every emotional word she uttered. He continued to look down, more out of surprise than shame.

"You kissed me in these dreams. In one, you held me close and we watched the stars collide above us. I began to see you as someone I want to be important to. Hell, you've always been someone I've wanted to be important to, even when I was young and still filled with disillusionment that disguised itself as love for Sasuke. While I didn't know it then, I've always wanted you to notice me more than the two boys. I wanted to become stronger so you could compliment me on my techniques and chakra control. I wanted you to tell me I had a bright future ahead of me as a leading female ninja, that I had so much potential. I've always wanted this, Kakashi. I've always... wanted you." Tears were flowing freely now, trailing two glistening lines down her cheeks and neck, into the opening of her shirt. She knew how ridiculous she was sounding and she did not care at all. Though she was coming off as a naïve teenager who had no idea what love or affection was, she just wanted to tell him what she was thinking. She just wanted to get her point across._  
  
Forget this life.  
Come with me.  
Don't look back, you're safe now.  
Unlock your heart.  
Drop your guard.  
No one's left to stop you._

Kakashi stood up suddenly, walking away from the creaking chair and over to the kitchen counter. He turned his back to her, looking slightly downward. His arms grasped the table edges cleanly, sighing to himself. _Isn't this what you want?_ He asked himself questions over and over, _Why aren't you responding to her?_ He couldn't open his mouth. The guilt over what they already were and what they potentially could be was eating him alive. Teachers were not supposed to get involved with students, former or not. It was a silent 'no-no' that could never get around town. She was still so young.

As if reading his mind, she stated plainly, "I'll be turning eighteen in two weeks."  
_  
Forget this life.  
Come with me.  
Don't look back, you're safe now.  
Unlock your heart.  
Drop your guard.  
No one's left to stop you now..._

Walking over to where he stood, she latched her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his back. "I'll be a woman for you. Not a girl. Just tell me you'll have me; that you're not ashamed."

He closed his eyes; even the lights seemed too bright, too demanding. They shone like spotlights on his figure on display. "This wasn't supposed to be this way."_  
  
We're leaving here tonight.  
There's no need to tell anyone,  
they'd only hold us down.  
So by the morning's light  
we'll be halfway to anywhere,  
where love is more than just your name._

* * *

I think this is the longest chapter yet! Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I'm really flattered that so many people want me to keep going. I hope I don't end up disappointing you. :

The song at the beginning was The Spill Canvas' "Aim Snap Fall" and the ending song was the inspiration for this story's title, Evanescence's "Anywhere." It's a beautiful song, I strongly suggest downloading it, even if you don't like their other music.

Anyway, yeah. I think things are starting to get interesting. How about you?

- Mitsuki


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